


Working to Get Fired

by cashewdani



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 02:04:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cashewdani/pseuds/cashewdani
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So, maybe she goes to Ben’s birthday party at The Bulge, whatever, she doesn’t even know why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Working to Get Fired

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Annakovsky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annakovsky/gifts).



> Un-beta'ed, but still hopefully not terrible =)

So, maybe she goes to Ben’s birthday party at The Bulge, whatever, she doesn’t even know why.

Derek invited her.

She gives Ben a vintage issue of Playgirl she stole from the library, one from the 70s that’s all chest hair and insanity. He’ll hate it, but keep it, and it’s not like she cares one way or the other.

And maybe she winds up with Derek’s hand up her skirt next to the speakers, the bass of “California Girls” getting her closer to coming than whatever it is he thinks he’s doing. He smells like Ben’s body spray and is kind of the worst boyfriend. She has no idea why she and Ben don’t think they can do better.

Followed, later, maybe, by the completely unsurprising event of her standing out back, crying, next to a dumpster. She’s been here before, a number of times that she’s not capable of counting right now. But she’s never seen Ron with his shirtsleeves rolled up, sanding down a piece of wood that looks like it’s going to be a door to something. They lock eyes, and she just hates everyone and everything. He’d never seen her like that either. She would have remembered that kind of pity.

But maybe none of that happened either. Because that’s what it seems like when she goes back to work on Monday.

&&&

At first, she thinks it’s nice, that she doesn’t need to explain to her boss why she’s always in love with people who just want to disappoint her, but then she can’t help but thinking that Ron was supposed to be different. She doesn’t know why. Everything about Ron screams I don’t want to deal with your life problems.

And then she gets angry about it. Angry enough that she starts actually scheduling appointments for him, and signing him up for committees, and there’s even an afternoon where she heavily debates leaving a promotional Duke Silver promotional postcard her mother got on Leslie’s desk.

That’s why Ron’s supposedly going to the Pawnee Mayor’s Gala tonight. With a guest. He paid $175 a ticket and April grinned the whole time she signed Ronald Swanson on the check.

She’s smiling again, remembering, even though Ron’s screaming at her. “APRIL LUDGATE, HAVE YOU SUFFERED A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY THAT MADE YOU FORGET WHAT YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION IS?”

“No,” she says, and his face flushes even more darkly.

“THEN WHY IS A CATERING HALL CALLING TO CONFIRM MY TWO VEGETARIAN KOSHER MEALS FOR TONIGHT?”

She recalls fondly selecting that option. “They want to make sure you’re satisfied with their spread?”

“This is not funny, April,” he tries to tell her, but, he’s wrong, it really, really is. “Your punishment is as follows: You have to pick me up a tuxedo. You need to buy yourself a dress. And you need to come with me tonight and eat all of whatever this meal is that you signed us up for,” His voice had changed, and is suddenly the exact opposite of when he started screaming at her. “Do we understand one another?”

“Yes,” she says, without even meaning to.

“Good. I will meet you there at 7.”

She slinks out the door, back to her desk, feeling the weird flush of shame that usually only her parents can bring out in her, and hasn’t even sat down when he’s asking, “April, how much did I pay for the pleasure of your company tonight, by the way?”

“$350.”

“Fantastic,” he responds in the kind of sarcasm she’s very familiar with.

&&&

She doesn’t buy a dress. She just wears the one her mother bought for her to wear to her cousin’s wedding. It was a little short two years ago and now it barely seems appropriate, but it’s not like Ron can actually force her to buy something.

Still, she feels a little bit like a prostitute standing at the bar amongst all these women her mom’s age in pantsuits with sparkly jackets. She’s not feeling much better when she’s had three glasses of champagne and Ron still hasn’t shown up.

It’s starting to occur to her that maybe this is part of the punishment, that she’s going to have to stay through the whole night, waiting for him, and he’s just not going to come. It’s with finishing up what’s in her glass that she decides, “Fuck him, like he’s going to know if I stay”, and she’s heading towards the door.

Where Ron is walking in. She’s seen Ron in a tux before, but something about it tonight is making her feel a little off from center. “Have you been enjoying yourself?”

“It’s been a highlight of my year,” she deadpans.

“Well, I’m certainly glad,” He takes her by the elbow, and she feels the touch go up and down her arm. “Couldn’t afford the whole dress?”

“I thought I might try to blackmail some politicians while I was here.”

He gives her a wry smile. “Good girl.” It’s weird how that’s the part that leaves her feeling exposed.

&&&

The stuffed pepper that’s waiting on her plate is disgusting, but she eats every last bite of it. Ron just sits back in his chair and watches her. “I hope it’s as delicious as you’d expected.”

“You’d know if you ate any of it. You’re not hungry?”

“I had breakfast at the diner. That’s why I was late.”

“Oh? You were late? I had no idea.” She requests another champagne from the waitress as she comes by to clear.

“Do you really think you need another?”

“Do _you_ really think you need to be asking?” April responds, remembering how she got here in the first place, him not giving a fuck.

She has the drink. And one after that.

&&&

Drinking makes her make bad choices. Well, worse than the ones she usually makes anyway.

She would never opt to dance at a Mayor’s Gala sober for example.

But Ron kept watching her after dinner so she kept watching the people dancing, and it got to a point where she actually wanted to get up there. To dance to what she’s 90% sure is a _Journey_ song.

“Do you want to dance?” Ron asks her.

“Would I stand on your toes like I was your daughter?”

He wants to know, “Why do you do that?” but she’s not going to get into it. It’s none of his business.

She says instead, “I’ll dance with you. For one song anyway.”

He takes her hand, and the DJ changes the track to some Eric Clapton song she knows she’s seen her parents slow dance to. And that she now apparently is going to slow dance to with Ron.

She places a hand on his shoulder, and she’s aware for the first time of just how solid Ron is. It should feel strange to feel him on her lower back, but it’s not. Or everything about tonight is just so strange that nothing is even registering anymore. She’s drunk and dancing with her boss because he doesn’t care about her at all, and so what if she lays her head on his chest. Breathes in and finds he doesn’t smell like anything artificial. Who gives a fuck?

April remembers this song being longer, it not making her want to cry, lots of things that don’t seem quite right. “I’ve got to...I’ll be back,” she says, running she doesn’t know where, just out of this room.

She sits in the lobby on a severely overstuffed chair and tries to catch her breath. And Ron follows her.

“Are you okay?” and she’s not, she’s not, but she’s never really okay, or she hasn’t been in a long time.

Her voice breaks when she says, “Your face looks like it belongs in the Playgirl magazine I bought for Ben,” and she has no idea why that’s important or so sad.

She likes that he doesn’t ask if Ben was her boyfriend or the other one and then she really wants to kiss him. She has to know first though, “Why didn’t you do anything when you saw me outside The Bulge?”

“What was I supposed to do?”

And then she does kiss him because he’s honest and it makes sense and any number of reasons. No one is asking for a list.

Ron lets her kiss him, and that’s the part she can’t think of an explanation for.


End file.
